Italy CT Roberto Mancini confirms he will start Andrea Belotti against Bosnia-Herzegovina tomorrow and that he sees Nicolo Zaniolo as a “midfielder”.
Italy have already secured their place at Euro 2020 going into their final two qualifiers, while the match in Zenica is also effectively a dead rubber for Bosnia, whose best hope now seems to be the Nations League playoffs.
Mancini has Belotti and Ciro Immobile for striking options, and he revealed he would be going with the Torino hitman on Friday.
Italy CT Roberto Mancini confirms he will start Andrea Belotti against Bosnia-Herzegovina tomorrow and that he sees Nicolo Zaniolo as a “midfielder”.
Italy have already secured their place at Euro 2020 going into their final two qualifiers, while the match in Zenica is also effectively a dead rubber for Bosnia, whose best hope now seems to be the Nations League playoffs.
Mancini has Belotti and Ciro Immobile for striking options, and he revealed he would be going with the Torino hitman on Friday.
“Belotti will start. As for elsewhere, I have two doubts: one on the right, at full-back, and one in midfield,” he said at a Press conference.
“Bosnia have always won here, it’s a good stadium to play in and we’ll do our best because, like them, we also want to win.
“After that, we’ll see. For them to beat us, they’ll have to play well and we’ll have to congratulate them. Certainly, it’ll be a good match.
“We thought Bosnia and Finland would have the same chances of qualification.
“In my opinion Bosnia are stronger, but Finland have proven to be better, as well as more consistent.
“For them, a chance can come in the Nations League. It will still be a good game: since they have nothing to lose, they’ll be playing to win.”
Zaniolo has tended to play out wide for Roma, but the former Inter boss has other ideas.
“I think he’s a midfielder for what he can give us, even if he now plays in a slightly different role [out wide].
“And that’s a doubt for us because he played in that role against Luxembourg, but it was a bit easier for him.
“To play there, he must know how to hold the position and find different solutions, compared to when it plays a bit wider.
“For me he can fulfil both roles, but we need him in a different position than the one he plays for Roma.”